Learn More

Requirements

for the Master of Arts in English

To earn the Master of Arts in English (as distinct from the Master's in passing, for which Ph.D. students are eligible), students must complete the following requirements.

Course Requirement
Eight courses in the Department of English, at least three courses must be 200-level seminars and one course must be ENG 301a (Master's Directed Research). ENG 200a (Approaches to Literary and Cultural Studies) is optional but recommended. Master's students are expected to take all eight required courses within the Department of English. A student must petition in writing to the department chair and director of graduate studies to be exempted from this rule. (ENG 301a and ENG 352a/b cannot be counted towards the 200-level requirement.)

Residence Requirement Students may enroll on a full or part-time basis. There is a one-year minimum residence requirement for full-time students. Most full-time students will take an additional one or two semesters beyond the first year to complete the degree as Extended Master's students. Students who wish to enroll in the program on a part-time basis are strongly encouraged to complete all the requirements within four years.

Language Requirement
A reading knowledge of a language other than English with evident relevance to intended field of student or to professional commitments must be demonstrated by passing a written translation examination. The completion of the language requirement at another university does not exempt the student from the Brandeis requirement. MA candidates who are native speakers of a language other than English are exempt from the requirement.

Master's Research Paper Requirement

This project must be twenty-five to thirty-five pages long. Papers written for course work, papers presented at conferences, and papers written specifically for the M.A. degree are all acceptable. Each paper will be evaluated by two faculty members, one of whom may be the faculty member for whom the paper was originally written. The second reader need not be from the English department. The paper must satisfy the reader's standard for excellence in M.A. degree-level work.